THE journey has been a needlessly long and tortuous one and the price of victory can hardly be described as modest.

But the cause for a mighty celebration cannot be denied: after years of campaigning, Liverpool is to finally – finally – have its much-needed cruise liner turnaround facility.

The city will pay back £8.8m of a £9.2m government grant, but the long-term benefits of the move will be priceless for Liverpool and Merseyside as a whole.

It represents yet another piece in the New Liverpool jigsaw which has been steadily taking shape over the last few years.

We have seen how the city has been transformed by landmark developments such as the Liverpool One shopping centre and the ECHO arena, while Liverpool, in so many different ways, continues to build on the boost that was given to it by our year as European Capital of Culture.

And now, in just a week’s time, we are set to welcome the first turnaround cruise at the Pier Head for 40 years.

We remain unhappy that so many people in rival ports, not least Southampton, busied themselves by making life so difficult for Liverpool – but perhaps we can understand why they are apparently so nervous about our pulling power.

The vibrant city of Liverpool has so much to offer cruise liner passengers. And they, we feel sure, will be delighted to be able to start and finish their cruises in a place which is also steeped in maritime history.

The waiting has been hell, but a new dawn is finally set to break on our wonderful, world-famous waterfront.